Live-blogging the Academy Awards...

Enjoy the live blog of the big show:

11:45- At a quarter to midnight on the east coast we close out our Live Blog of the Academy Awards. Thanks for following along!

11:41- That was a classy way to close out the show...

11:38- To those keeping score, The King's Speech and Inception led the night with 4 Oscars apiece, followed closely by The Social Network with 3.

11:36- Yep, that's about what we all saw happening...

11:33- The final award of the night, Best Picture. The nominees are Black Swan, The Fighter, Inception, The Kids Are All Right, The King's Speech, 127 Hours, The Social Network, Toy Story 3, True Grit, and Winter's Bone. And the Best Picture of 2010 (according to the Academy) is...The King's Speech!

11:31- Steven Spielberg is on to close out the night...he's making all of the losing films feel better. Well played.

11:29- One award left. The big one...also an award that was much more in play earlier in the show than it is now, though to be fair, most of us never thought it was really in play going into tonight.

11:27- Colin Firth is giving a hell of a speech.

11:23- Time now for Best Actor. The nominees are Javier Bardem for Biutiful, Jeff Bridges for True Grit, Jesse Eisenberg for The Social Network, Colin Firth for The King's Speech, and Oscar co-host James Franco for 127 Hours. And the winner is...Colin Firth!

11:19: Sandra Bullock is on now to toast the 5 leading gentlemen. I wonder who might be winning this one...

11:16- Good to see Black Swan finally on the board. Oddly enough, Portman might have gotten the biggest ovation of the evening. Good for her! Also, great job by Jeff Bridges in giving a fitting tribute to all 5 nominees.

11:11- It's time for Best Actress. The nominees are Annette Bening for The Kids Are All Right, Nicole Kidman for Rabbit Hole, Jennifer Lawrence for Winter's Bone, Natalie Portman for Black Swan, and Michelle Williams for Blue Valentine. And the winner is...Natalie Portman!

11:08- It's looking like The Social Network is done making the show interesting. I'm not saying it's 100% going to be The King's Speech for Best Picture, but...well, it pretty much is.

11:06- Annette Bening introduces the Governors Award winners.

11:04- Remember that Oscar split we spoke so much about? Never mind that...

11:03- A big moment now. The category is Best Director. The nominees are Darren Aronofsky for Black Swan, Ethan and Joel Coen for True Grit, David Fincher for The Social Network, Tom Hooper for The King's Speech, and David O. Russell for The Fighter. And the winner is...Tom Hooper!

11:01- Hilary Swank gives a nice intro to Kathryn Bigelow. A nice mention of last year's history.

10:58- The biggest awards are still to come, so don't go anywhere!

10:56- Lena Horne gets a special mention. She deserved it.

10:52- Now, to honor the dead with the memorial tribute...I won't lie, this always chokes me up.

10:48- Overall, I'm pleasantly surprised so far by the show. I wonder if it'll last...

10:46- You know the nominees for Best Original Song now, but do you know the winner? Well, you do now. The winner is...Toy Story 3!

10:45- Now Gwyneth Paltrow sings one of her songs from Country Strong...this one is Coming Home. Not even the best in the movie, so I doubt it's a threat.

10:43- Now we have the song If I Rise from 127 Hours. It fit in the movie pretty well, but is perhaps too mellow to win? I'm honestly not sure. I still think it's Toy Story 3's to lose, but I'm not confident at all.

10:41- I think Franco is being dry and stiff on purpose. If so, bravo.

10:36- Excuse my French, but holy shit, is The Social Network in the pole position to win Best Picture now?

10:35- Time for Best Film Editing. An important precursor to Best Picture, this one here. The nominees are Black Swan, The Fighter, The King's Speech, 127 Hours, and The Social Network. And the winner is...The Social Network!

10:32- We're up now to Best Visual Effects. The nominees are Alice in Wonderland, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, Hereafter, Inception, and Iron Man 2. And the winner is...Inception!

10:30- A tribute by Billy to Bob Hope in the middle of the show. Is this a sign they're not big fans of Anne and James?

10:26- Billy Crystal at a show he's not hosting? Madness...

10:21- The category now is Best Documentary Feature. The nominees are Exit Through the Gift Shop, Gasland, Inside Job, Restrepo, and Wasteland. And the winner is...Inside Job!

10:19- What the hell was that all about? It was amusing, yes...but still.

10:17- James Franco reacting to the NYU shout-out was pretty cool.

10:16- We now know who has the best hair at the Oscars...

10:15- On the heels of that is Best Live Action Short Film. The nominees are The Confession, The Crush, God of Love, Nawewe, and Wish 143. And the winner is...God of Love!

10:12- Some love for the short films now. The category is Best Documentary Short Subject. The nominees are Killing in the Name, Poster Girl, Strangers No More, Sun Come Up, and The Warriors of Quigang. And the winner is...Strangers No More!

10:10- These commercial breaks are too short...I can barely relax.

10:05- Next is I See The Light from Tangled. It's a standard order Disney song...probably won't win, but it's not terrible.

10:04- Randy Newman performs the song We Belong Together from Toy Story 3, the first of the Best Original Song nominees. It's not his strongest work, but might be the default front-runner.

10:02- I'll admit it, that was a cute Original Song segment. And a wonderful choice by President Obama as well!

10:00- Is it just me or are the Oscars going a very populist route so far tonight?

9:58- Now is Best Costume Design. The nominees are Alice in Wonderland, I Am Love, The King's Speech, The Tempest, and True Grit. And the winner is...Alice in Wonderland!

9:57- Did Rick Baker really need a 7th Oscar? I don't care that much, but this easily is one of the worst Oscar winning films out there...besides Alice in Wonderland of course.

9:56- Up next is Best Makeup. The nominees are Barney's Version, The Way Back, and The Wolfman. And the winner is...The Wolfman!

9:54- Marisa Tomei is now telling us about the Science and Technical Awards.

9:50- As expected, Inception is doing very well in the tech categories...good for the film.

9:48- Now for Best Sound Editing. The nominees are Inception, Toy Story 3, Tron: Legacy, True Grit, and Unstoppable. And the winner is...Inception!

9:46- The sound categories are here. First up is Best Sound Mixing. The nominees are Inception, The King's Speech, Salt, The Social Network, and True Grit. And the winner is...Inception!

9:44- Could the Academy really be favoring The Social Network right now? If it takes Film Editing as well...wow, things are going to be interesting going into Best Director and Best Picture.

9:42- We're up to Best Original Score. The nominees are How to Train Your Dragon, Inception, The King's Speech, 127 Hours, and The Social Network. And the winner is...The Social Network!

9:38- Woot woot...a Brooklyn reference.

9:32- Coming soon...The Dark Knight Rises, starring Academy Award Winner Christian Bale!

9:30- Time for Best Supporting Actor. The nominees are Christian Bale in The Fighter, John Hawkes for Winter's Bone, Jeremy Renner for The Town, Mark Ruffalo for The Kids Are All Right, and Geoffrey Rush for The King's Speech. And the winner is...Christian Bale for The Fighter!

9:27- We come now to Best Foreign Language Film. The nominees are Biutiful, Dogtooth, In A Better World, Incendies, and Outside the Law. And the winner is...In A Better World!

9:25: James Franco...wow. Our first Charlie Sheen crack, as well...no pun intended.

9:23- Anne Hathaway can sing...

9:18- For those keeping score, The King's Speech and The Social Network are tied at 1, with both having the Screenplay award they would need for Best Picture. Stay tuned...

9:16- Now is Best Adapted Screenplay. The nominees are Another Year, The Fighter, Inception, The Kids Are All Right, and The King's Speech. And the winner is...David Seidler for The King's Speech!

9:13- Time for screenplays. First up is Best Adapted Screenplay. The nominees are 127 Hours, The Social Network, Toy Story 3, True Grit, and Winter's Bone. And the winner is...Aaron Sorkin for The Social Network!

9:10- So far, the show is moving briskly enough. I'm pleased.

9:05- Now is Best Animated Feature. The nominees are How To Train Your Dragon, The Illusionist, and Toy Story 3. And the winner is...Toy Story 3!

9:03- Up now is Best Animated Feature and Best Animated Short. One is a lock and one is a toss-up. First is Short Film, and the nominees are Day and Night, The Gruffalo, Let's Pollute, The Lost Thing, and Madagascar. And the winner is...The Lost Thing! Go figure, I got this category right. Look for Animated Feature above.

9:01- Now we know who Banksy is...good to know.

8:58- Guess that whole Leo controversy didn't matter in the end...

8:54- We're up to Best Supporting Actress. This will be an important category to watch. The nominees are Amy Adams for The Fighter, Helena Bonham Carter for The King's Speech, Melissa Leo for The Fighter, Hailee Steinfeld for True Grit, and Jacki Weaver for Animal Kingdom. And the winner is...Melissa Leo!

8:50- The King's Speech is 0-2. Is that a sign?

8:46- Next is Best Cinematography. The nominees are Black Swan, Inception, The King's Speech, The Social Network, and True Grit. And the winner is...Inception!

8:44- The first category of the night is upon us. It's Best Art Direction. The nominees are Alice in Wonderland, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, Inception, The King's Speech, and True Grit. And the winner is...Alice in Wonderland!

8:43- Combining classic films with the categories? I like it.

8:41- That wasn't bad. Not great, but charming.

8:37- And now the show begins for real...

8:36- Back to the Future...be still my heart.

8:34- "The naked girl from Love and Other Drugs and the guy from General Hospital"...god I love Morgan Freeman.

8:32- Inception being satirized right at the start? A good populist choice, making that the first film they concentrate on.

8:30- With the show getting started, look for the first few tech awards to dictate the night. If The King's Speech wins them, then you know we might be in for a sweep. If it doesn't, things could get interesting. That combines with a win for The Social Network in Film Editing would make for a close Best Picture race...

8:25- 5 minute warning! (Yes, I know I'm being redundant)

8:21- They've moved inside...the time is soon.

8:15- We're almost there...15 minutes to go!

8:08- James Franco looks like he doesn't want to be bothered, since you know...he's got a show to host in a bit.

8:00- 30 minutes to go!

7:42- If you're curious about how we see the race going, check out the final staff predictions here.

7:36- Never mind, they had to bring up the Melissa Leo "controversy".

7:31- I'll say this...as pointless as this is, I am enjoying the positivity. Nice to see a lack of snark...for now, at least.

7:20- Are we there yet?

7:09- 10 minutes in (almost) and they've already run out of questions to ask people as they walk the carpet. Sigh...

7:06- What was the point of trying to terrify Hailee Steinfeld?

7:00- And we're off. It's the Red Carpet right now, and honestly...I'm not too interested, so if the updates are sporadic and brief, forgive me. They'll get better as we get closer to the start of the show.

-Feel free to comment!